Macrolepidoptera in Laukėnai and Notigalė Raised Bogs (Lithuania)

Abstract: The research of nocturnal Macrolepidoptera using Jalas model automatic light traps was carried out on Notigalė and Laukėnai raised bogs in 2000. The latter site is small (64,1 ha) and overgrown with dense pines and shrubs, while the former site is much bigger (552 ha) and quite open. A total of 11224 Macrolepidoptera specimens belonging to 352 species have been registered. 221 species were common for both communities. 16 stenotopic bog species (5 of them tyrphobiontic) were found on Notigalė, and 13 (4 of them tyrphobiontic) on Laukėnai bog. 3 stenotopic species (Scopula virgulata, Syngrapha interrogationis and Litophane lamda) were recorded only on Notigalė raised bog. Total abundance of stenotopic Macrolepidoptera species was 20,9 % on Notigalė, and 32,5 % on Laukėnai bog. Each Lepidoptera community was composed of 22 species with an abundance of equal to or greater than 1 % of the total catch. Lycophotia porphyrea (13 % of all individuals) and Nola aerugula (12,8%) were the dominant species in Notigalė, while Nola aerugula (15,0%) and Hypenodes humidalis (9,2%) in Laukėnai Macrolepidoptera community. Lycophotia porphyrea, Coenophila subrosea, Coscinia cribraria, Perconia strigillaria and Thalera fimbrialis showed preference to open raised bog overgrown with Calluna vulgaris, while Arichanna melanaria and Itame brunneata to the pine bog with dense Ledum palustre and Vaccinium uliginosum shrubs. The group of dominant Lepidoptera species confirmed vegetation data that Notigalė bog was under succession, while Laukėnai bog had more constant and favourable environmental conditions for stenotopic Lepidoptera species